Offshore Adventure

By DAVID DAY

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Kitesurfing

I'm walking around Castle Island in South Boston, and its accompanying body of water, Pleasure Bay, and notice some huge kites in the sky. Not so unusual. Then on the beach some chaps in wetsuits—again, not so unusual. Then one of them grabs the giant kite and a surfboard, and proceeds to launch himself into the water, on the surfboard, harnessing the power of the kite like a sail and floating up. It's called kitesurfing, and I'd never seen anything like it.

Adam Gordon, an instructor at Boston Kite School [10 Winthrop Ave., Quincy. 617.331.3786. bostonkiteschool.com] started off as a windsurfer, reaching heights of 40 feet. "If I start in one place, and I end up about a football field from where I started, I must have been going pretty high," he says. According to Gordon, the premium kitesurfing locations are the Florida Keys, and (lucky you!) Cape Cod, particularly Chatam and Dennis.

As an instructor, Gordon keeps a spreadsheet of each student's skill and organizes trips for riders of similar skill sets. Lessons at Boston Kite start at $125 for Kite Skills and go up to $325 for advanced private lessons. A special of $299 is available now for an introductory six-hour lesson.

If the kitesurfing social set sounds appealing, then there are a couple of options for would-be enthusiasts. Boston Kitesurfing Club [617.500.3458. bostonkitesurfingclub.com] not only organizes trips with fellow sailing freaks, but will fly you out in their Piper Archer 2 to the spots where the wind is strongest. There's also the recently launched MASSKiting [100 Newbury St., Boston. 508.259.9440. masskiting.com], which provides information on where wind riders are gathering, photos from recent kitesurfing meetups (like a recent Sea Monsters show at Precinct in Somerville) and where to get the necessary gear.

The sport, which started in the early '90s, but didn't take off (har har) until about 10 years later, requires a lot of equipment, like wetsuits, boards and kites. Check out Wilderness House [1048 Comm. Ave., Boston. 617.277.5858. joejonessports.com] for new gear, or Gordon's site, where he sells new and used gear of his own.

"Windsurfing is a water sport, kitesurfing is a wind sport," says Gordon. "This is not my quote, but kitesurfing is windsurfing in 3-D. You can reach heights in kitesurfing that you only dream about when you're a child."

Skimboarding

Unlike surfing, which starts out in the ocean, skimboarding begins on the sand. Thanks to the sometimes unbearable cold of the deep Eastern ocean, skimboarding is quite popular in the Commonwealth. Recommended beaches, according to skimonline.com, include Nauset Beach in Cape Cod and, on the North Shore, Manchester's famous Singing Beach. If you're looking to purchase locally, Ocean Frog, near the Oak Grove T stop on the Orange Line, has a G&S Skimboard available for $49.99. [804 Main St., Malden. 781.321.3854. oceanfrog.com]

Kayaking

A leisurely float down the Charles might be harder to come by than its less-traveled sister, the Mystic. More than an Oscar-winning film, Mystic River is vast, with numerous places to launch your craft. And Schraffts Boat Ramp, near that big iconic neon sign at Sullivan Square, is the spot to do it. [Mon-Fri 6am-8am, 5pm-8pm; Sat-Sun 6am-8pm. 617.242.6037] If kayak rental is key, Charles River Canoe & Kayak will deliver and pick up a single kayak starting at $65 for the rental and $50 for the delivery between 1 and 5 miles. [1071 Soldiers Field Rd., Allston. 617.965.5110. paddleboston.com]

Windsurfing

Windsurfing is to kitesurfing what skiing is to snowboarding. Old school. Those in the know talk about Duxbury Beach (aka Powder Point Bridge) like it's Maui. Those of a Yoda-like intensity might ride out in a nor'easter, when mast-high waves are reported. For equipment, try CanAm Sailcraft, based in Wilderness House [1048 Comm. Ave., Boston. 617.277.5858. canamsailcraft.com]. Careful with that board, though, dude. They can run upwards of $1,000.